Talk about a long break!

Can you believe it? I'm 13 months old!!!

So sorry for the long silence! Believe me, I've been doing lots of talking...and crawling and now WALKING! So much so, that Mom and Dad haven't had time to get it all down! They have been too busy chasing me, moving things out of my reach, kissing my boo-boos, etc. It's been a very hectic time! They look tired most of the time, but I'm having lots of fun!

I just got back from taking them on a whirlwind tour of the US. We were on six airplane [aeroplane] flights, three long car trips, in five states (okay, one was just to change planes in Chicago), and countless timezones. I'm so glad I decided to take my carseat and stroller--it made travel a breeze. [ed. note: Easy for him to say!] Most of all, I loved seeing my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and the DOGGIES!

Everyone thought it was funny that I pant whenever I see a doggy or someone says "dog" or "puppy." I even started panting in the bathroom the other day, and Mommy couldn't figure out where the doggy was, until she saw the packet of toilet paper [Andrex loo roll] I was looking at. It has a really cute little puppy on the package!

I'm saying lots of new words and doing lots of new babysigns every day. Today at dinner, Mommy and Daddy had just reached out to hold my hands before eating as they almost always do, and this time I didn't wait for them to start saying the grace. I jumped right in and started shaking their hands up and down (that's what we do when we say grace--we shake hands in time to the rhythm of the words) and said "Thank you, Jesus!" Mommy and Daddy were so surprised. They sat there with their mouths hanging open. Well, it was more like "Ank oo, Eesus!" I didn't get to finish the "for our food" because they started laughing and patting me and hugging me. So I lost my train of thought.

I can say lots of things now. Or at least, Mommy and Daddy have finally caught on that I am trying to say the following:

DaDa
MaMa
Duck (that was my first word after MaMa and DaDa)
Quack
That ("Dat!")
What's that? (Wa da?)
All done. (Ah done!) - or use the sign language
Dog (although mostly I just pant--they get the idea)
Kitty cat (mostly I just meow)
Clock
Tick tock
round and round (I LOVE ceiling fans!)
Hi
ByeBye (although sometimes it comes out more like DieDie)
NightNight
GaGa! (That's Grandma! Funny thing: Mommy says she called her grandmothers "GoGo"....)
Carrot (just learned that one last night at dinner)
Cracker (learned that on my big trip! I discovered crackers!)
Thank you (Although I tend to say it when handing something to someone, because Mommy always seems to say it when handing something to me. Well, she says, "Thank you, Mommy!" hmmmm..... Gotta think about this one a bit more!)
Please (Well, Mommy thinks she heard me say that.... she's hoping!)
Gorilla (kind of like "rilla")--my cousins gave me a great book called Goodnight, Gorilla! I liked it so much, I asked for it by name the next night--"Guh Guh" I think I said, while pointing over at it. I kept saying it and pointing until Mommy got the right book. Honestly, she is a bit slow sometimes!
Banana (Nanna)--yummmmmmmmm!
Uh-oh! (When I drop something... I used to say Uh-Uh and it took Mommy and Daddy awhile to figure out what I meant, since I was always dropping stuff, especially in my highchair....)
Click Clack--for my Click Clack Track. [Click on the link to see a picture of it.]
Santa--Grandma Shirley gave me a tiny little plastic Santa mug, just my size! So I learned to say Santa and even "Santa cup!" I love that little cup. I hold onto it while crawling, skootching, and even sometimes napping.
The End - I have a "talking" book that says "The End" when you close it. So I started saying "The End!" too, and simultaneously signing "All Done!" Mommy got excited; she had no idea I knew what "The End" means, even though she sometimes says it when she finishes reading a book to me.

I use sign language for the following:
Duck
Bird (really, those two are a bit hard to tell apart)
All done
Cat (well, really I just do a kind of meow, but I have done the sign a couple of times!)
Dog (not usually with the hands--just panting)
Clean
Bath (just did that one tonight!)
Brush teeth
Round and round (those ceiling fans again!)
Light on! (I love lights, and will point out all the lights that are off in a room (no matter how big....))
Book--and I surprised mommy by signing book and then duck, so that she would read me the book about the ten little rubber ducks that fell off a boat!
Hungry/food/yummy/yoghurt--these I indicate by smacking my lips very hard together. For yoghurt, I tend to suck in the lips a bit more while smacking them, as it's a bit sour! But I LOVE plain wholemilk yoghurt! Yummmmmmmm!!!
Monkey (just learned that one tonight)
Hot (used especially if Mom gives me food that is too hot....)
Music! I love music. I want it on all the time, especially while I'm eating. It's the first thing I ask for when Mommy puts me in my booster seat/highchair. If it's not on, I'll ask for it by pretending to conduct. If it's on, I keep conducting. And bopping.
Snapping fingers (okay, not really a sign, but someone told me on the trip that if you snap your fingers the lights come on. It worked while he was doing it, but it doesn't always seem to work now.....)
Thank you/please -- in our system, these signs are almost identical, except Please is a bit deeper.
Happy--again, my own version. When you're happy and you know it, don't you clap your hands, too?
Lots of waving..... I love to wave at people. Sometimes I just wave. Sometimes Mommy can't figure out whom I am waving to, since she doesn't see anyone there (when we're out for a walk). She has concluded I must be waving at a passing angel.
I also know how to "Give five!" Mommy sometimes has me give her five and then says "Give JoMo five!" It took me a few seconds the first time to figure it out, but now I can give myself five too! (Okay, it looks like clapping, but you just have to know the context!)

To be honest, "hot," "music," "monkey," and "hello" all look a lot like waving, although I generally wave one finger around (conducting) when I want music. Mommy and Daddy were getting too confused about whether I was saying Hi or thought something was hot. Since I really really like music, I had to get more specific so they would understand. They readily understand "monkey" because I make the monkey noise (Ack! Ack!) while waving. I'm trying to scratch under my arms like Mommy and Daddy do when they say "Monkey!" but I'm just not quite there yet with my coordination. My arms don't really bend that way (except when Mommy is trying to get clothes on me....)!

Those are most of what I can remember right now. I'm sure I've left something off!

The good news is, Daddy finally got a new computer, so he should be able to load on all the pictures he's taken in the past six months or so, and you should see some more pictures of me soon! I've grown a LOT!

Bye for now!